Sorcerer’s Handbook

Chapter 245: The Sunk Cost of Striving to Become the Observer

The battle with the Heroic Soul Legion truly exhausted Ashe and his companions.

It wasn’t just Ashe, who had been at the forefront of the battle from beginning to end, but also Sonya and Deya, who had spent most of their time as cheerleaders. They endured the constant threat of sudden death while hiding in the car, countering the dizziness and impact of speeding, with no moment of respite for their minds… like a tightly wound spring, the aftereffects of releasing their potential energy remained, and they hadn’t yet recovered from the harrowing battle they had just experienced.

Even though Ashe and the others had faced dangerous battles in the past, those were merely ‘dangerous’, where the Sorcerers still had room to maneuver. However, this battle with the Heroic Soul Legion left no room for errors; a single car explosion, and they would have no capacity to contend with the Legion.

They had been skirting the edge of death the entire time.

Using the terrain to set traps, poisoning the Thousand-Feathered Dragon amidst a sea of enemies, grinding down the Serpent-Scorpion Star Swordsman, fighting the Heroic Souls to the last second… Compared to this battle, slaying the Slaying Fish-Dragon could almost be considered a leisure activity to relax one’s mind.

However, after sitting for a while, Ashe and Sonya had mostly recovered. Yet, they still leaned against the car, with no intention of standing up, like employees who start their Restroom break with a 15-minute minimum of ‘touch fish’.

They were not too lazy to get up; adventuring in the Virtual Realm was akin to being self-employed, and as motivated entrepreneurs, they were quite enthusiastic about their work. They remained seated because they were waiting for the Witch to Rest.

Sonya, usually a chatterbox, was now silent, her legs clad in black stockings lazily crossed, her nose emitting a gentle snore as if she were lying in bed.

Yet, she kept using her peripheral vision to observe Deya’s clown-like, colorful attire, with a hint of concern in her eyes.

Ashe’s acting skills were not as good as Sonya’s; he sat with a very stiff posture, trying to observe Deya’s chaotic hair, which looked as if it had been doused with a palette of spilled paint. His left hand still held Deya’s wrist, ready for any unexpected events.

After defeating the Heroic Souls, Ashe and Sonya had communicated through eye contact and reached a consensus—the Witch’s condition was far from good.

They were acutely aware that as the battle grew more perilous, the Witch’s hair color became increasingly muddled, and even her voice began to shift. At one point, she spoke with the resonance of a quartet, as if four different individuals were speaking at once, while her hair continued to change into a chaotic mix of colors—a very ominous sign indeed.

Rest was not only a post-battle relaxation but also a means to facilitate the Witch’s recovery. They could all deduce that the Witch’s strange condition was undoubtedly linked to her ‘sisters’. Yet, issues of the mind were completely beyond their capabilities; their spirit miracles were of no use here.

Fortunately, both Ashe and Sonya were of Silver Rank in the Mind Faction Realm. Even though they hadn’t read many psychology texts, when confronted with such special events involving changes of the mind, they could intuit the correct course of action—do not disturb the Witch and let her gradually calm down.

Had it been the old Sonya, she would have certainly tried to indirectly inquire about how the Witch felt. As for Ashe, he might have blurted out something like, “Have you considered shaving your head?”

But thanks to their intuitive knowledge from the Mind Faction Realm, they were able to nip those potentially irredeemable thoughts in the bud.

Only the ignorant are fearless; knowledge teaches reverence.

Perhaps it was the atmosphere they had created, but the Witch also lazily sat down next to the sports car and closed her eyes. Her clothes slowly shifted back to black, and the cheap illusionary colors in her hair faded, soon returning to the Secret Princess’s pure shade.

She fell asleep.

This was the first time Ashe and Sonya had seen someone fall asleep in the Virtual Realm. They quietly gathered on either side of the Witch, studying her eyebrows, lips, nose, eyelashes, and glasses for a while. Unaware until they took a closer look, they were startled to find that, although the Witch was always beautiful, she looked even more serene in her sleep, like a timid deer, so much so that they were tempted to pinch her cheeks.

When Ashe’s gaze began to wander beyond her neck, curious about the curves beneath her clothing, Sonya reached out and grabbed his chin, twisting his line of sight to meet her own.

You wake her up.

Why should I? You do it.

I’ve just met her recently; you’re more suitable.

You’re a woman; you’re more appropriate.

Women are not more appropriate.

Why not?

Are you a woman or am I? Don’t women understand women?

You… damn, that actually makes some sense.

Ashe lost the silent argument and begrudgingly took on the loathsome task of acting as an alarm clock. But since Swordswoman was so unwilling, he didn’t hold back!

Pinch~

Ashe reached out and pinched the Witch’s chubby cheek, enjoying the pleasant feel of it. It was said that bodies in the Virtual Realm were true reflections of their real counterparts, hence the softness could be felt. Setting everything else aside, this touch alone was enough to heal Ashe of the fatigue from the previous Battle… Who knew a girl’s cheek was so soft!

“Hey!”

Sonya swiftly chopped Ashe’s hand away: “Isn’t that harassment?”

“I’m trying to wake her up! According to the relevant surveys, attacking the face is the most effective way to wake someone, like a slap certainly does the trick.”

“Then slap her!”

Good grief, not even the dumbest and most iron-willed college roommates I knew were as ruthless as you; only my brother could have done something like this.

“Huh?”

Deya, awakened by the pinch, rubbed her eyes in confusion and looked around at them: “Huh? You guys… this place… how did I… am I dreaming?”

Sonya didn’t hesitate to pinch her face hard, turning it into a pancake face: “You just fell asleep! Snap out of it, we’re still in the Virtual Realm!”

“Oh, oh, oh!” Deya nodded vigorously: “Right, I remember now, we beat the heroic soul legion… We actually won, yay, yay!”

The Witch immediately burst into excitement, hugging the Swordswoman in celebration. Ashe, moved by the scene, also extended his arms, trying to join the celebratory embrace of the girls, but he was pushed away by the Swordswoman. However, the Witch, noticing Ashe’s gesture, came over and hugged him as well: “Observer, your driving skills are amazing! So awesome! You’re even cooler than the villains in fairy tales! Swordswoman is super amazing too, delivering the final blow, and of course, I’m also great, I held onto that heroic soul!”

“Yes, yes, yes, Witch, you did a great job this time, thank you for your hard work.”

Ashe gently rubbed Deya’s head with his right hand, smoothing down her proud, spiky hair while raising his left hand high to show that all of his actions were in line with the standards suitable for children’s TV channels. Sonya snorted and stood up, saying, “Well, we should go collect the spoils of war that we’ve earned—hopefully they haven’t thought themselves unwanted and run off.”

By this time, the poisonous fog in the cave had dissipated, and as they looked around, they found few spoils to speak of. It was unclear if the manner of their victory was the issue or if it was because the Knowledge Creatures were part of the heroic soul legion, but their defeat had not resulted in the dropping of Experience Orbs, nor even any spirits.

There were only three pieces of loot on the battlefield, all dropped by the heroic souls.

The first was a manual, but when Ashe picked it up, he realized it wasn’t the Sorcerer Handbook they had expected—

“Demilo’s Commander’s Handbook”

“Read to obtain a choice of one reward—”

“Sword Command Technique – Basic: You know how to coordinate swordsmanship Faction troops and gain a large amount of Swordsmanship Faction experience.”

“Archery Command Technique – Intermediate: You excel at using ranged troops to achieve tactical intentions and gain an enormous amount of Archery Faction experience.”

“Offensive Technique – Basic: You become more threatening when commanding an attack and gain a small amount of experience for all Factions.”

“Logistics Technique – Intermediate: Your troops move more swiftly during marches and gain a moderate amount of experience for all Factions.”

How to describe the shock that the Commander’s Handbook gave to the sorcerers? Look at Swordswoman’s reaction to understand—upon learning of the reward options inside, the word ‘Small horn’ slipped out of her mouth, her composure completely shattered by the shock.

If the Sorcerer Handbook was like a nutritious but difficult-to-eat vegetable, then the Commander’s Handbook was akin to a high-nutrition ice cream cake that defied the laws of matter with zero calories, zero sugar, and zero protein. First, its rewards were not random, but could be chosen; second, in addition to commanding skills, it also provided Faction experience, essentially giving away extra Experience Orbs.

Of course, the most important aspect was—it had no reading prerequisites!

Not every vegetable suits the palate of a sorcerer, but who can resist a zero-calorie ice cream cake? Ashe and his companions didn’t even need to open the Commander’s Handbook to read the command experience within; they could simply use it and receive the rewards. Therefore, even Sonya, whose moral baseline was rather rigid, could use it!

Although the Commander’s Handbook might not seem particularly valuable—after all, it was just “a command skill that might not be used” plus an Experience Orb—the loot they obtained from slaying the Fish-Dragon wasn’t much different.

The appearance of the Commander’s Handbook broadened their horizons, showing them that not all Sorcerer Handbooks were tough vegetables to chew. In the Virtual Realm, there might exist other flavors of Sorcerer Handbooks that were even more nutritious.

If they encountered similar heroic soul sorcerer projections like before, Swordswoman would definitely not stop Ashe from venturing into danger. They bravely took a step into the unknown, and the Commander’s Handbook was the positive feedback reward for doing so. Therefore, their first reaction to encountering the unknown and facing danger in the future would not be to flee, but to probe and gather intelligence.

A sorcerer who has tasted sweetness will readily lick any unknown secret, even if it might contain bitterness or even poison.

Silently, the success shaped their way of thinking. Just as the River of Flowing Gold nurtured their ambition, hunting heroic souls also grew their greed.

Without a doubt, the Commander’s Handbook was naturally for Sonya. After all, among the three of them, no one required the Archery Faction, and the urgent task at hand was to feed Sonya’s Swordsmanship Faction up to the Gold Tier.

Sonya also deeply felt her own powerlessness in the recent battle. Although she delivered the final fatal blow, 99% of the credit for the entire battle had to go to Ashe and his nearly exhausted sports car.

The real MVP deserving of praise and embrace was the car!

But the sports car was a manifestation of Ashe’s power, which by itself far surpassed her own; and the Witch had a Gold Tier Magical Faction, with her water thread possessing both offensive and control capabilities. Moreover, the Witch could read most Sorcerer Handbooks… Sonya realized after some reflection that she was unwittingly on the verge of becoming the one who lagged behind in the team.

The Observer had made it clear that if one couldn’t keep up with the team, they wouldn’t receive a tilt in resources or favoritism. If the team needed to optimize its member structure, naturally, the ones lagging behind would be the first to be optimized…

So, Sonya didn’t hesitate this time; she reached out and took the Commander’s Handbook.

She wasn’t the type to admit defeat easily. If she truly couldn’t keep pace with the team’s progress, her plan was to drain the Observer of resources, consume all the resources the Observer had, to the point where the Observer would be forced to invest even more to avoid wasting previous investments!

As long as she owed enough to the Observer, then the one in panic wouldn’t be her, but the Observer!

What was that called again…? Right, sunk cost, a term the Observer once explained while complaining about work. Sonya really liked this term.

The more one invests, the harder it is to let go.

Time, effort, emotions, experiences, everything becomes a shackle affecting current decisions.

She set a small goal in her mind—to become the sunk cost the Observer couldn’t afford to abandon!

Before using the Commander’s Handbook, Sonya quickly skimmed its contents and, as expected, found it exceedingly dull. It was all about command experience and battle examples, without a single bit of intelligence on ‘Demilo.’

No wonder the Commander’s Handbook could be used by anyone; it bore no imprint of a sorcerer’s values or opinions, no output of viewpoints, just like any ordinary reference book. Of course, there’d be no reading barrier.

But isn’t the Sorcerer Handbook the culmination of a sorcerer’s life’s work? How could it contain not even a hint of Demilo’s privacy?

The thought flickered through the rustic girl’s mind and then disappeared—probably a special mechanism of the Virtual Realm. If there’s nothing to see, then there’s nothing to see.

Turning to the last page, Sonya saw a somewhat familiar photograph.

It was a star chart, the profound night sky, twinkling Stars, with three stars connected by lines. The lowest one was labeled “Demilo,” but the other two were nameless.

She showed this page to the others, and Ashe made an accurate assessment:

“It looks like the information a victim gives about their murderer right before dying.”